Making Taste Public: Ethnographies of Food and the Senses

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Making Taste Public takes an ethnographic approach to show how social relations shape - and are shaped by - the taste of food. Recognizing that different cultures have different taste preferences and flavour principles embedded in cuisine, editors Carole Counihan and Susanne Hjlund ask how these differences are generated. The editors have compiled 14 chapters to show how specific influences become a part of our sensorial apparatus and identity through shared experiences of making, eating, and talking about food. Using case studies from Asia, Europe and America, the book presents a theory of how taste is made public through everyday practices. The authors are exploring how place, production methods and cooking techniques create tastes. They discuss the criteria determining good and bad tastes, and how tastes and memories evolve over time. Subjects such as how values can be embedded in taste, and the role of taste education in food movements, homes, and schools are explored. The different chapters examine definitions and mobilizations of taste in different institutions, public places, and regions around the world to reveal ethnographic understandings of how people learn, experience, and share taste. With contributions spanning the Solomon Islands, Denmark, Japan, Canada, France, the USA, and Italy, Making Taste Public is a fascinating account of how our sense of taste is continuously shaped and re-shaped in relation to social and cultural context, societal and environmental premises. The book will interest anyone studying anthropology, sociology, food studies, sensory studies and human geography.

Reviews

[L]inking the individual to the collective is an overarching topic addressed in the fifteen chapters in Making Taste Public, edited by anthropologists Carole Counihan and Susanne Hjlund. Drawing from the scholars rich ethnographic case studies from Denmark, the Solomon Islands, Italy, France, Japan, and Sweden, the broad question of how does taste become part of the culture (1) is explored. * Food, Culture & Society *
A vitally important part of culture, taste has been a peculiar blind spot in social science and food studies. These original contributions by many of todays best food scholars is part of a renewed interest in human senses. With vivid case studies, it reveals the crucial importance of taste as a connection between individuals, cultures, and the complexities of everyday life. * Richard Wilk, Indiana University, USA *
If you not before were convinced that taste is a social and public matter that takes place between people, you will be after having read this remarkable and timely book. Its message is as necessary as it is obvious. * Ole G. Mouritsen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark *
Preferences for food and drink are frequently regarded as private to individuals or, more generously, determined within families or ethnic groups. This collection demonstrates how taste is actively public, detailing examples of how place, community, and education affect taste choices and experiencesall timely matters for our changing global societies. * Carolyn Korsmeyer, University at Buffalo, USA *
A great project. Just what is needed in food studies - and sensory studies - at this juncture. * David Howes, Concordia University, Canada *
This is an excellent project. It is the book that all of us who are interested in the cultural and social aspects of food and food experience have been waiting for, for a very long time. * Kaori O'Connor, University College London, UK *
Counihan and Hjlund have produced a landmark volume that advances the field of Food Studies while remaining highly accessible to students. The essays use taste to rethink wider food cultures and systems, answering critical questions about identity, health, justice, and sustainability. * Jeffrey M. Pilcher, University of Toronto, Canada *

Author Bio

Carole Counihan is Professor Emerita of Anthropology at Millersville University, USA. She is also Editor-in-Chief of the Food and Foodways journal. Susanne Hjlund is Associate Professor in Anthropology at Aarhus University, Denmark.